Love Is Growing
by Timmesque
Summary: [SoraKairiRiku][ONESHOT] Kairi never believed she was a romantic. But in her small corner of the world, something had changed between them.


**Love is Growing  
By Timberwolf220  
**

* * *

Kairi pressed her hands into the linen, her fingers trying to find iron hooks in the fabric. Little marks, little signs of wear and tear had marked the blanket with her nightly encounters of pain and terror. Here, in this bed which was too big for her, she lay, still as glass. The blanket was barely in her hands, partially strewn over the bed and on the ground. Her eyes remained shut as she delved into her dreams of cotton candy and sugared lips surrounding her.

_And then he said…_

* * *

They called it love.

A simple word which described every little oddity in her behaviour so perfectly. The fluster in her cheeks, the stretched stare that lingered like perfume, the trembling hands over cheeks and bones and of course, the priceless meek stutter that accompanies the blush and downward gaze.

Kairi didn't stutter. Nor did she blush profusely like a child.

Yet, there was a halt in her thinking when Riku smiled and sometimes she would catch her breath as if she had come out of circus ride when Sora held her hand. It was fanciful and beautiful the way she caught herself folding gazes with them.

(it was like a calling, a faint whisper fluttering in her ear like an errant butterfly with stardust laden wings that told her, 'you found them, they are here, waiting')

(Kairi disliked waiting. She waited all her life, always waiting, always standing as the lone star, and watching the ships leave her harbours for more pleasurable lands. And in the dusk, her light wanes a little, to sink into the impregnable dark that closes in on her)

(But she had no other power in her. She could only wait)

Sora made it no secret that he loved her, treasured her. He was gentle, overly so, his hands always lightly tracing her like a painting that will scar afterwards. But she was held, warm arms wrapping her tighter than a Christmas present, his heart near her head and she could hear the solid steady drumbeat that pulled the tides of the oceans away from her shore. Sora never kissed her. She suspected he was embarrassed to. She teased him about it and he would splutter and spew fake denials. Riku did the same.

Riku loved Sora. They were rivals in all, but really, Riku reminded her of herself. Riku too was one of those lone watchmen who stood at the tiers of a castle, watching the ships leave their shores. He knew that light could vanish in a flick of his fingers and while he lacked Sora's delicacy, he had his own brand of tact. While, there is only so much one can shield a person, Sora's world remains bright and unturned while she and Riku's world edged closer to the proverbial black.

(and all this too, was love)

* * *

Sometimes, Riku came to her bed. She could hear him, faint dragging steps over her wooden floors. She never moved from her side and he would slip behind her, filling the little crevasses in her arms and burying his face in her burnt hair. Sometimes, he would let out an almighty sigh of fatigue and his breath would ghost over her cheeks like lost warmth of a heart. On colder nights, his arms would encircle her waist and pull her close as if she was a taunt string and if he let go, she would snap at the force. He never talked about his reasons. She never asked for his reasons. But in the pale limelight, there was a faint scratching of guilt in the back of her skull.

She didn't feel young anymore

* * *

_It was all for love and none for need _

Someday, she wanted to tell Sora how she loved him. Not _why _or _if. _How.

Kairi was not a poet. She didn't have the magic of words in her soul, but she had her own magic which spirals kingdoms out of control. She knew what to say, even if she was unsure how it should be said. Sometimes, tales of grandeur and thorn-tipped roses came to mind, but Sora was not a girl and not one wooed by romance.

She imagines that when she confesses, she would place her small hands on his hands and close her eyes. Somewhere, the words would appear on the blank canvass of her mind and she would speak, her voice clear and rippling in the air.

(and she confesses to herself, that she was a romantic)

* * *

there was a hint of confusion when Sora said, "It's okay."

The confusion hummed in her when Sora said, "I knew."

(she could even hear Riku's muscles tense at Sora's words, but she was numb all over and only the echo could be heard bouncing off the walls of her mind)

and then he said, "it's okay"

* * *

here, in this moment of time they had carved out for themselves. Sora had nestled her head under his chin and behind her, was Riku in his normal position. Here, with two bodies holding onto her with soft arms, she breathed in the darkness and sighed with perfection. Here, in this compass, was her world. She no longer felt like the fading dusk star on the pinnacle.

(she was still a romantic)

(that would not change)

(but here, in this dim circle of the night)

(love is growing)

* * *


End file.
